Community Living South Muskoka believes that the Government of Ontario will never have enough resources to meet the needs of the developmentally disabled. If we want to provide additional services and supports we must find other ways to financially sustain ourselves and become a valued contributing member of our community. With this goal in mind Community Living South Muskoka purchased a 35 acre farm on the outskirts of Bracebridge in 2007 called Morrison Meadows. We wanted to create employment opportunities for the individuals we serve, and become an outdoor recreational space for our community to enjoy and see individuals with a developmental disability as capable, friendly, teachers, partners and community leaders.

The cost of this project is not funded by the Ministry. Community Living South Muskoka is a registered charity and we host fundraising events that assist us with the capital costs of the farm. We built a new barn on the property that we use for community events, dances, staff training and our annual general meeting.

We reached out to local farmers in our community to teach us about farming and assist us with the preparing of the fields for planting each spring. We plant corn and pumpkins and sell them to local merchants as well as individuals operat a stand outside our head office. Each year our crops expand, and we developed community gardens that are offered to members of the community and individuals we serve used to grown their own vegetables. The community gardens are expanded each spring based on demand.

In the late September our annual Fall Harvest Days are held over two weekends. Families are able to enjoy a day at the farm, participate in games and activities, campfires, wagon rides and pick their own pumpkins. We even had the cooperation of the deer that were willing to feed on the fields while children passed by on the wagon rides. Schools can also participate in activities at the farm every fall.

We have also donated a small portion of our land to the Town of Bracebridge to put an accessible path and parking area from our road to our community’s new baseball diamonds and park.

We have created a new venture called Snowdrifts teaching winter survival skills and snowshoeing to local school children. The individuals we employ show the children how to build quinzees, start a campfire without matches, and enjoy the trails on the farm. Each school gets a video of their time at the farm and has become known as the best outdoor experience that the local school board attends and should be made mandatory with the school system. We have groomed and made cross country and snowshoeing trails available to the general public. We have also partnered with the schools to host the Muskoka Mud Run at the farm where 700 school children and their families enjoyed a day of fun, competition and activities. The Muskoka Mud Run is becoming an annual event.

Buzz Cutz, our lawn maintenance business, is also headquartered at the farm. The individuals who are employed in the business make minimum wage this year.

We have also installed of a solar array on the farm. The power generated will be sold back to the grid. We have a twenty year contract with the Ontario Power Authority and the funds for the power generated will pay for the equipment as well as provided us in the long term with annual operating funds for the farm.